Island Canopy Hoods

A freestanding kitchen cupboard unit with a countertop, allowing access from all sides

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, .

A thing resembling an island, esp. in being isolated, detached, or surrounded in some way

A piece of land surrounded by water

a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water

Johns Island, SC 1957

This photo of Ruthie and me was taken just outside our family's little summer home on Johns Island, near Charleston, SC, in 1957. The white spots on the ground are areas of sunlight that have managed to poke through the thick canopy of Spanish moss and white oaks. Ruthie's in the same outfit she wore in the photo atop the hood of Uncle Owen's car; so this is definitely from 1957, our fourth and final summer on the island.

The following year I spent four weeks of my summer at Ben Lippen Camp in Asheville, NC. Ben Lippen was a fundamentalist Bible camp my grandmother had always wanted me to attend--she was so convinced I'd grow up to be a preacher. Which never happened. I really didn't like this camp--my counselors refused to let me listen to the radio (too much sinful music), the food was horrible, we had to do calisthenics outdoors every morning at 7am, the camp director yelled at us day and night, we were constantly praying ("Dear Lord, please get me out of here!"). There was no time for sinful indolence at Ben Lippen, unlike every single amazing fucking day on Johns Island.